Hello everyone! My name is Roman. Today, I want to share my case study on driving traffic to news. What makes this case interesting? First, the traffic is driven in a single block. The key feature is selecting the right teasers for that specific block to maintain a high CTR and capture the traffic.

Secondly, the ad campaigns are still active (and will remain active for an indefinite amount of time). For obvious reasons, I won’t disclose which specific block this is. However, I can share some strategies that helped achieve a steady income from a single block with minimal optimization.

Now, let’s get to the case study itself.

Vertical: News / Content Arbitrage

Traffic source: Geozo

GEO: Bulgaria

Dates: May 21, 2024, 18:11 – still active

Total leads (registrations): 813

Spent: $3,169

Earned: $7,530

Profit: $4,361

ROI: 137.61%

Average cost per lead: $3.89

Average approval rate: 25-35%

Average conversion rate (CR): 0.25-0.36

Results from the affiliate program:

Statistics from the network:

CHOOSING THE SOURCE

It makes the most sense to drive traffic for news verticals from news websites. I have been working with the Geozo network for a long time, and it specializes mainly in news sources. During this time, I have learned almost all the algorithms, including how to interact with the platform. I usually find websites for White Lists myself through statistics, but sometimes I ask managers for bids and CPM rates for certain blocks. This particular block from a Bulgarian website was selected based on the results of previous tests.

CHOOSING THE GEO

Bulgaria was actually the first geo I started exploring on the Geozo network. Traffic from Bulgaria is of high quality and stable, allowing for high performance metrics without risk of sudden drops.

EXPENSES

  • Tracker: $50
  • Domains: $4.35

CAMPAIGN SETTINGS

  1. Geo: Bulgaria
  2. Time Targeting: 24/7

ADS

Celebrity content is prohibited on this block, so I needed to use something lighter, such as life hacks or prophecies. Life hacks usually have a lower CTR, so I opted for esotericism. For the ads, I used images of freaky-looking people. I used to find such characters through groups on Telegram where people interested in esotericism gather. And of course, there’s Google. I had a total of 6 teasers, with 3 variations in 2 ad campaigns.

Teaser previews:

I also found that sensational headlines and news with prefixes like “Amazing” and “Incredible” converted well. The target audience for prophecies reads such news not for rational reasons, so a small amount of clickbait should not be off-putting.

Examples of headlines in Bulgarian:

  • “Слава Севрюкова с невероятно предсказание!”
  • “Страшно пророчество на „сестрата“ Ванга преди смъртта ѝ”
  • “Индийски пророк разказва какво очаква България в близко бъдеще”
  • “Индийският пророк Пунит Нахата: ето какво очаква България през…”
  • “Индийски пророк: България през 2025 г. ще бъде…”

I changed the news article about 5-6 times over the 10-day test period. This allowed me to adapt the content to achieve the wanted metrics. For content generation, I used AI.

OPTIMIZATION

Since the campaign initially operates on a White List, optimization is basically just tracking the cost per click. I did not set a daily spend limit, but I adjusted the CPC if I noticed that competitors were taking a larger share of the traffic (meaning there were fewer clicks in the statistics over a 24-hour period).

I adhere to a cost-per-click model for each block in the geo during traffic generation, which depends on the EPC over the last 7 days in the affiliate program. My main goal is to achieve the highest possible CTR for the teaser while maintaining a competitive CPM to secure high positions in the ad distribution.

The test took me about 2 days and $100-150.

SCALING

The ad campaigns for this block are still generating results, so I don’t plan to stop them anytime soon. Keeping it alive and well does not take much time. I scale the campaigns by increasing the budget for the ad block, allowing me to capture a significant amount of traffic with just two ad campaigns.

The bid cost ranges from 0.014 to 0.016 cents, depending on the day of the week: it is higher on weekends and lower on weekdays. For bidding recommendations, I consult with the manager of the ad network, which helps me maintain competition for the block.

CONCLUSIONS

Driving traffic in a single block helps me save time and money. Of course, you need to have a White List and know what bid is needed to be competitive. Special thanks to Geozo‘s manager Aigul for sharing all the necessary information.

Recommendations on the campaign management

  • Maintain audience’s interest. Regularly updating the article’s content is essential. During the testing period, I recommend updating as often as possible while monitoring the metrics. This way you can focus on the most effective approaches and exclude non-converting ones. This process does not take much time, especially with AI.
  • I recommend using content for people over 40 years old, as this audience interacts more actively with the news.
  • Do you research on the geo, observe competitors’ ads, browse news websites, and understand what local media are writing about. You can then test hypotheses based on this research.